********************************************
Following is a speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, at the AmCham IWF Conference on "Women in Business Make a Difference" this (Thursday) morning:
Ms DeLisle, Ms Cheung, Ms Chew, ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you very much for inviting me to address this Conference jointly organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and the International Women's Forum. Today's theme of "Women in Business Make a Difference", I think, makes a very positive statement about women's ability to contribute to the world of business, whether it is in the public sector or in the private sector. I think most will agree women have made considerable gains over the past generation and this forum gives us an opportunity to reflect on progress and to identify areas where we need to redouble our efforts so that all women, whatever their race, their beliefs, marital status, or age can realize their potential to the full.
I'd like to survey the field by starting with the area that I know best - i.e. the Civil Service. It is hard to believe today that even in the 60s and 70s, women were still being paid less than men for doing exactly the same job. In my own case for example, when I joined the Civil Service in 1962, I received only 75% of a man's pay. And furthermore, on marrying, I had to retire and apply to be re-employed on temporary month to month terms and it wasn't until 1975 that women enjoyed parity of pay with men and it took a further seven years before we were entitled to the same fringe benefits as our male counterparts in the Civil Service.
We have come a long way since then. Today, all jobs in the civil service are open to both sexes. We do not specify gender preference in our advertisement of Civil Service vacancies. Women now make up 33% of all public officials and female colleagues are taking up "traditional men's jobs" such as fire officers. Woman police constables are now armed and they undergo exactly the same training in the Police Tactical Unit as their male counterparts. Female civil servants now make up 19% of all officers at the directorate level. This figure is still low but it is already 89% higher than five years ago. In the past five years, the number of women joining the Administrative Officers Grade, which is the backbone of the civil service, has consistently surpassed that of men. From a ratio of one female to three male Administrative Officers ten years ago, the ratio is now five female to six male; and one to two at Administrative Officer directorate level. Indeed, in a recent induction course for new recruits, one of our senior staff had to "assure" our male officers, half-jokingly, that they would enjoy the same opportunity in promotion as their female colleagues!
Beyond the civil service, women are increasingly more prominent in business, in public affairs, in community service and in politics. In 1981, only one member in the Executive Council was a woman. Now four out of 14 members are female. In the first Legislative Council elections of the HKSAR held in May this year, female voters and candidates took an active part in the process and compared with the 1995 LegCo elections, the number of female candidates had increased by 60% while the number of those elected has increased by about 43%. Indeed, political participation of women in Hong Kong is, I think, comparable to the worldwide situation and certainly takes the lead in Asia.
So, what has brought about these welcome changes? Several factors are at play but perhaps the single most important factor is the opening up of educational opportunities for all. A major milestone was the introduction in 1978 of nine years of basic free education for all girls and boys up to the age of 15. Traditionally, particularly in Chinese families, many large families of limited means had tended to put emphasis on educating the boys rather than the girls. Our 1978 initiative coupled with an increasingly generous grant and loan scheme for university students have helped to ensure that girls are not deprived of an education simply because of a lack of means. They are thus able to compete, on the basis of academic merits and on merit alone, for places in tertiary education.
The result is there for all to see - we have an equal percentage of girls and boys graduating from our tertiary institutions. Indeed, in some very competitive subjects such as medicine, business and law, there is a higher percentage of female students.
Sustained economic growth over the past decades in Hong Kong has also played an important role in improving the status of women in Hong Kong. It has brought more women into all parts of the workforce. Our free market, competitive environment has encouraged a high degree of social mobility which has benefitted men and women alike.
Another agent of change has, I think, been the attitude of women themselves. Education in its broadest sense has helped to correct bias based on gender stereotypes. It has also helped improve the self image of women and made them realize that by coming together and acting collectively, they can help remove injustice and sexual discrimination and this is precisely how female civil servants achieved equality of pay and conditions of service in the 70s and 80s.
The Government is only committed to achieving equality of opportunities for both sexes and we believe that we have a good record in promoting gender equality particularly in the past decade.
In 1993, we published the Green Paper on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men to gauge public opinion on gender issues. The enthusiastic response surprised even the staunchest advocates of equal opportunities. In fact, we believe that the consultation itself was highly valuable in terms of public education and publicity. Lively and rigorous debates were held in various fora and among different strata of the community.
This led to the enactment of the Sex Discrimination Ordinance in 1995, which outlawed discrimination on the ground of sex and marital status. It also provided for the establishment of the Equal Opportunities Commission in 1996. Later two more Ordinances came under the purview of the Commission, that is the Disability Discrimination Ordinance and the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance. The latter ordinance protects from discrimination those people, mostly women, who are responsible for the care of immediate family members or who head single parent families.
The Equal Opportunities Commission works to overcome discrimination in almost all aspects of life, such as employment, education, provision of goods, facilities or services, as well as government activities. It fulfills its role through conducting formal investigations, handling complaints, encouraging conciliation between parties in disputes, and providing assistance for court proceedings when conciliation fails.
The Commission is steadily raising its public profile. A recent survey showed that public awareness of the EOC has increased from 35% in December 1996 when it first came into operation, to 87% this year. In the first 5 months of 1998, the Commission received about 4,000 enquiries and over 200 complaints.
But of course we all know that no human laws, however perfect, can hope to eliminate completely human prejudices that exist in our minds. I am therefore happy to see that in addition to the efforts of the Government, the EOC has been doing a great deal to eradicate prejudices through its public education campaign. It has issued Codes of Practices under the Ordinances it administers, in order to increase employers' awareness in employment issues. It has tried to get across these messages to the general public through both the printed and electronic media. It also funds projects by community organisations that promote the ideas of equal opportunities. Civic education exhibitions and summer youth programmes have also been organised to educate the younger generation so that they grow up with a much more liberal open minded attitude free from gender bias based on stereotyped roles.
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, better known as CEDAW was extended to Hong Kong in 1996. Furthermore, the rights of women and men to equal opportunities, as with other human rights, are protected by our constitution - the Basic Law. We have forwarded the first report of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government on our application of CEDAW to the Central People's Government for inclusion in its report to the United Nations. When the relevant UN Committee examines the report, probably early next year, representatives of this Government will form part of the delegation of the People's Republic of China to present our record to the world at large.
Despite the undoubted strides that have been made in recent years on raising the status of women, I believe that much still remains to be done - at the workplace, in the home and in the community at large, particularly amongst those women who have received limited education and work in less well paid jobs. In a place like Hong Kong with little natural resources of our own except our human capital, it makes no sense to deny women their rights to contribute to the social and economic well being of our community by giving them a choice as to how to live their lives and to choose the work that they want to be in. Women ask only that they be treated as men's equal and be given a chance to realize their potential and to demonstrate their worth.
I'd like to commend the International Women's Forum and the American Chamber of Commerce on their initiative in providing this valuable forum for discussing our very important social issue. In addition to the efforts of the Government, the Equal Opportunities Commission and organizations such as the International Women's Forum, we each, whether man or woman, have a role to play in promoting equality of the sexes by personal example and by not turning a blind eye when we encounter prejudices or see discriminatory practices in action.
Let me conclude with this observation. Even today, despite the fact that many women have achieved prominence in different walks of life, women still seem to stand out as successful women rather than simply as successful persons. One reason is that women are still mostly in a minority at the top of their chosen career. After all, one never hears it commented with any surprise that men have achieved success. What for men is taken for granted is still relatively exceptional for women. The fact is that it takes a long time for equal opportunity employment policies to work through the system to produce equal representation at the top of a particular profession. For example, in the USA, women make up 59% of all public officials, account for 40% of medical and law students, serve as presidents in nearly 350 colleges and universities. And yet, they occupy only 7% of the position within three levels of the CEO. The figures in Hong Kong are probably even lower.
I think we must all join hands in a common enterprise. An enterprise that seeks to achieve nothing less than the elimination of all forms of discrimination based on a person's gender and we look forward to a day when every woman can exercise her full citizen's rights, when to be a successful woman in business is not something that is considered remarkable but is just as natural and commonplace as being a successful man!
I wish you all a most productive morning. Thank you very much.
End/Thursday, September 17, 1998
NNNN
Photo caption: The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, today (Thursday) delivers a keynote speech at a seminar entitled "Women in Business Make a Difference" held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
